Tata Steel India 2022 Rapid R4-6: Unbeaten Nihal Sarin leaps to the pole position
Nihal Sarin scored 2.5/3 on the second day to become the sole leader 4.5/6 at Tata Steel Chess India 2022 Rapid. The 18-year-old won against Gukesh and Sethuraman, drew with Wesley So, to stay a full point ahead of the competition. His close friend Arjun Erigaisi and previous day leader, Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (AZE) are at 3.5/6 each. Both of them started their day with a loss. Hikaru Nakamura scored 2.5/3 to jump from ninth to fourth place. Vidit Gujrathi scored his first win of the event against Nodirbek Abdusattorov who suffered two consecutive defeats in round 4 and 5, before he defeated Sethuraman S P. Round 7 starts tomorrow at 4 p.m. IST. Photo: Lennart Ootes
Nakamura makes a great recovery
The second day witnessed ten out of 15 decisive games, first five happening in the fourth round itself. If this is a sign of things to come, brace yourselves for a thrilling final day of Rapid tomorrow. Will Nihal win his first super tournament? Can Arjun defend his title? Or will Nakamura have something to say about it? Only a few hours left for all that to be unanswered.
Round 4: Only decisive games
The fourth round witnessed five decisive games. Out of all wins, Vidit Gujrathi's (2662) triumph over the reigning World Rapid champion, Nodirbek Abdusattorov (UZB, 2676), was the mos thrilling one. Previously they had played only one rapid rated game ever which was also won by Vidit in 2019.
Abdusattorov - Vidit
The rook endgame with both sides having a passed pawn is certainly not an easy race to calculate, especially when you have less time on the clock. White played 54.Re2 and went on to lose the game. It is well-known by now that Vidit is extremely at these endgame, his theoretical knowledge is impeccable. Try to figure out what White needed to do to save the game.
Round 5: Gukesh and Nihal score
The fifth round had two decisive games. D Gukesh (2632) and Nihal Sarin (2616) defeated Nodirbek Abdusattorov (UZB, 2676) and Sethuraman S P (2545) respectively.
Round 6: White wins three
Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (AZE, 2747) uncharacteristically missed his tactical shot after aiming for it against Arjun Erigaisi (2628).
Arjun - Mamedyarov
27.Nd6+ would have led to some interesting position Rxd6 28.Rxc5 gxf2+ 29.Kh1 Nxc5 and it is really difficult to say if anyone has the upper hand. White made the mistake of taking the g3-pawn 27.hxg3. Black then missed 27...Rd1+! 28.Kh2 Qxf2 or 28.Rxd1 Qxf2 29.Kh2 Rxg3 and it would have been over for White.
Replay Round 4-6 games
Round 4-6 results
| Round 4 on 2022/11/30 at 1600 h | ||||||||||||
| Bo. | No. | Rtg | Name | Result | Name | Rtg | No. | |||||
| 1 | 10 | 2789 | GM | Nakamura Hikaru | 1 - 0 | GM | Mamedyarov Shakhriyar | 2747 | 7 | |||
| 2 | 8 | 2656 | GM | Maghsoodloo Parham | 1 - 0 | GM | So Wesley | 2784 | 6 | |||
| 3 | 9 | 2628 | GM | Erigaisi Arjun | 0 - 1 | GM | Sethuraman S.P. | 2545 | 5 | |||
| 4 | 1 | 2616 | GM | Nihal Sarin | 1 - 0 | GM | Gukesh D | 2632 | 4 | |||
| 5 | 2 | 2676 | GM | Abdusattorov Nodirbek | 0 - 1 | GM | Vidit Santosh Gujrathi | 2662 | 3 | |||
| Round 5 on 2022/11/30 at 1700 h | ||||||||||||
| Bo. | No. | Rtg | Name | Result | Name | Rtg | No. | |||||
| 1 | 3 | 2662 | GM | Vidit Santosh Gujrathi | ½ - ½ | GM | Nakamura Hikaru | 2789 | 10 | |||
| 2 | 4 | 2632 | GM | Gukesh D | 1 - 0 | GM | Abdusattorov Nodirbek | 2676 | 2 | |||
| 3 | 5 | 2545 | GM | Sethuraman S.P. | 0 - 1 | GM | Nihal Sarin | 2616 | 1 | |||
| 4 | 6 | 2784 | GM | So Wesley | ½ - ½ | GM | Erigaisi Arjun | 2628 | 9 | |||
| 5 | 7 | 2747 | GM | Mamedyarov Shakhriyar | ½ - ½ | GM | Maghsoodloo Parham | 2656 | 8 | |||
| Round 6 on 2022/11/30 at 1800 h | ||||||||||||
| Bo. | No. | Rtg | Name | Result | Name | Rtg | No. | |||||
| 1 | 10 | 2789 | GM | Nakamura Hikaru | 1 - 0 | GM | Maghsoodloo Parham | 2656 | 8 | |||
| 2 | 9 | 2628 | GM | Erigaisi Arjun | 1 - 0 | GM | Mamedyarov Shakhriyar | 2747 | 7 | |||
| 3 | 1 | 2616 | GM | Nihal Sarin | ½ - ½ | GM | So Wesley | 2784 | 6 | |||
| 4 | 2 | 2676 | GM | Abdusattorov Nodirbek | 1 - 0 | GM | Sethuraman S.P. | 2545 | 5 | |||
| 5 | 3 | 2662 | GM | Vidit Santosh Gujrathi | ½ - ½ | GM | Gukesh D | 2632 | 4 | |||
Round 7-9 pairings
| Round 7 on 2022/12/01 at 1600 h | ||||||||||||
| Bo. | No. | Rtg | Name | Result | Name | Rtg | No. | |||||
| 1 | 4 | 2632 | GM | Gukesh D | GM | Nakamura Hikaru | 2789 | 10 | ||||
| 2 | 5 | 2545 | GM | Sethuraman S.P. | GM | Vidit Santosh Gujrathi | 2662 | 3 | ||||
| 3 | 6 | 2784 | GM | So Wesley | GM | Abdusattorov Nodirbek | 2676 | 2 | ||||
| 4 | 7 | 2747 | GM | Mamedyarov Shakhriyar | GM | Nihal Sarin | 2616 | 1 | ||||
| 5 | 8 | 2656 | GM | Maghsoodloo Parham | GM | Erigaisi Arjun | 2628 | 9 | ||||
| Round 8 on 2022/12/01 at 1700 h | ||||||||||||
| Bo. | No. | Rtg | Name | Result | Name | Rtg | No. | |||||
| 1 | 10 | 2789 | GM | Nakamura Hikaru | GM | Erigaisi Arjun | 2628 | 9 | ||||
| 2 | 1 | 2616 | GM | Nihal Sarin | GM | Maghsoodloo Parham | 2656 | 8 | ||||
| 3 | 2 | 2676 | GM | Abdusattorov Nodirbek | GM | Mamedyarov Shakhriyar | 2747 | 7 | ||||
| 4 | 3 | 2662 | GM | Vidit Santosh Gujrathi | GM | So Wesley | 2784 | 6 | ||||
| 5 | 4 | 2632 | GM | Gukesh D | GM | Sethuraman S.P. | 2545 | 5 | ||||
| Round 9 on 2022/12/01 at 1800 h | ||||||||||||
| Bo. | No. | Rtg | Name | Result | Name | Rtg | No. | |||||
| 1 | 5 | 2545 | GM | Sethuraman S.P. | GM | Nakamura Hikaru | 2789 | 10 | ||||
| 2 | 6 | 2784 | GM | So Wesley | GM | Gukesh D | 2632 | 4 | ||||
| 3 | 7 | 2747 | GM | Mamedyarov Shakhriyar | GM | Vidit Santosh Gujrathi | 2662 | 3 | ||||
| 4 | 8 | 2656 | GM | Maghsoodloo Parham | GM | Abdusattorov Nodirbek | 2676 | 2 | ||||
| 5 | 9 | 2628 | GM | Erigaisi Arjun | GM | Nihal Sarin | 2616 | 1 | ||||
Standings after Round 6
| Rk. | SNo | Name | Rtg | Pts. | TB1 | TB2 | TB3 | TB4 | ||
| 1 | 1 | GM | Nihal Sarin | 2616 | 4,5 | 0 | 11,50 | 3 | 2 | |
| 2 | 9 | GM | Erigaisi Arjun | 2628 | 3,5 | 1 | 10,25 | 2 | 1 | |
| 3 | 7 | GM | Mamedyarov Shakhriyar | 2747 | 3,5 | 0 | 8,50 | 3 | 2 | |
| 4 | 10 | GM | Nakamura Hikaru | 2789 | 3 | 0 | 10,25 | 2 | 0 | |
| 5 | 4 | GM | Gukesh D | 2632 | 3 | 0 | 8,75 | 2 | 1 | |
| 6 | 3 | GM | Vidit Santosh Gujrathi | 2662 | 3 | 0 | 8,75 | 1 | 1 | |
| 7 | 8 | GM | Maghsoodloo Parham | 2656 | 3 | 0 | 7,25 | 2 | 1 | |
| 8 | 6 | GM | So Wesley | 2784 | 2,5 | 0 | 7,75 | 1 | 1 | |
| 9 | 2 | GM | Abdusattorov Nodirbek | 2676 | 2,5 | 0 | 6,75 | 2 | 0 | |
| 10 | 5 | GM | Sethuraman S.P. | 2545 | 1,5 | 0 | 4,75 | 1 | 1 |
